Expansible tool for removing lamp bases



July 25, 1950 J. SHAPIRO ET AL EXPANSIBLE TOOL FOR REMOVING LAMP BASES Filed May 11, 1946 INVENTOfi ATTORNEY Patented July 25, 1950 L non MMOMING BASES Jack Shapi vand a in 'Shan ml "NQW'YOI'K, N141.

Qlbaims- This invention ;relates to tools .for removing lamp-bases :from :their sockeiis.

'lihe p imary: object {of the pnesentinwention is the provision ,of .a toolwhich ,is.;part icula1:ly well adap ed iq use renamin lama as il sockets ,from which it is difiicult to remove .the lamp bases, which-is firequently thecase, esp cially in outdoor, electric hghtsigns .due .to corrosion-iof the lampbasesiinhthe sockets, or due .to paint or other causes.

nnonner, objector the; innen enis .110 nm idc a lamphase. removing rtQOlwhichds, welladapted to remove thellamprbase from thelsocket byjunscrewe i helhavse from. the socket, and which \is oigsuch construction and operation as to ,facil itate, the removal ;of. the lamp {base .fromvtheetool aiter :the lamp 'baseis memavedliromlthe .socket.

A ;-further object is, generally to provide :a lamp baseflremoving toolwhichisof simple constnuction and which. is highl'y efiective for iis-pmmosesan d easy .to use. v

Another object the provision of a. togl for leamng the innensuniflces o e e tric lieh sockets 'Iheah e .andlother objects. w:featuresand ad.- vantages of th present. invention .will .he Jiully understood from .the fol owin d crip i c nsidered in connect on with .the accomn nxin 1 1 lustrative i. drawings.

In .the. drawings :1 v v Fig. 1' ,isa side ,view of. a lamp base removing tool embodying the presentinventilmL .Fig. 2 is a view similar toEig. 1 showing the tool carrying. a lamp. base which has heenfrcmoved iromasocket;

Sign is a. n w qf the-.tjooinantly in elevation and. par ly in sect on, the nQs t Q is plf re at vel movable parts of the. t ol corms/pending i the positions shownin Fig. 1,.

B 4'is amend vi wle ithe took Referring now to .the drawin s, n Vd ail the l 0 em ody ng. the, present inve tien comiprises aul' mp baseglzinpin mem er J-Zandan operating member H .fo onditionin fihelaripng member L1LQ -gr pand-releaseihe larnnbaee and f actuating he xemai in member m h a p a pmlthQSMKfl The grip-pin memb r 12 is n ue ra lylfqrmed of sp ing steel an d comprisesa part1 L6. which is nre erably nzliiwl ical and which ,is inte tnally screw-{threaded as 'indicatgegl at .18. Gripping member 12 is, radially ,exnansible andi onimctable ndi rneseis pmvided w th a n11.1- fiy of circumferentiall --s.,pa ;l .longltuginal gripping mmber'forming a plurality of resilient ,slots 20w ic le fiendi0ih mfree,QI ienBndQL-Said 6. 5

se ments. {2.2. which extend lon itud nally o 42 rippinelmemberc Itwillhe understood thatl m rinning member, liaise p riphe all continunus: xcept inwthe .i litted portion which p vides "th nesilientnsegmentfs .22.. The, outer end portiqn of ripp n member L2 isl x rnally screw-threaded asindicated. 24 2.4 tmfittheinternal screw-thread.- ed surface. .oi a laznpjqasewhicn is, indiqated at B in F,ig. 2.. It will be understood that'screwthlseaded. portion. oi the gripping member is cggli-ndricaland that ill-i118 normalor contracted conditiqnit ay ,be :insented lwithin on threaded into the screw-threaded .shellof the lamp base after asuflicient amount of therglass-of the lamp b naml t e,m te .ia -,whichwaslusedf pnisecuk i 'lthelempbulh mEh asevv 'be ne veda- Bretemblmhu not-ne es ily, .the d am t f threaded portionifi, inits n qrm'al contractedcon, dition, is such wthatil;;is ,insert1a ble into ,thec base onlyvbyi screwingitintothelamp base. Ashouhv der 2,521.5 vpmvice(loathe rinn n member limi th e entofinsertionof pan 4 f h p in member in lt ilamp ase.

{ril rating memb r All comp ises a ri i which zis inscrew-vthreaded. engagement with .the thfl aded por.tion an of w lamp ase r pp n member I 2. Said istemjllhas an outwardly Ila:- ing or inwardly taperging outer endportion 32 which is of circular cross section and which is..in enga cmentlwi hIlla-outw rdly flarin l nnensu face alli-of .theouter .end portion 2401' the gripping member so- .that as a resultof relative r,0- -tation;lof members. lea-and l, 4 ,-in apredetermined locking memb .Zlhe ,a-diacenten of nning member 12 isnrovid dw th one o more witches A li'nvwhilq a mnanic n egra p qi ct on 4749i locking. membe 13 as' a inoya l @fit, in on ping member H! for limiting the movementbf spindle 28 longitudinally toward the outer split It will be understood that end of member l2. when pin 54 is in engagement with edge 56 of part l6 of member 12, the lamp base gripping member is in itsnormal or radially contracted condition. Spindle 28 is provided with a cross pin,

or handle 58 for actuating the tool and for use in effecting the relative rotation of members l2 Ema-14.. 9

Figs. and 3 show relative positions of the parts ofthettool in which the threaded part 24 of the tool is insertable into the lamp base B, .the screwthreaded portion 24 of thetool being radially contracted. The'screw-threaded shell or socket infwhichthe lamp base mounted and from which it is to be removed by the toolis not shown since sockets of this type are well known. The lamp base being in its Socket is removed therefrominjthe following way: .The threaded end portion of the tool, being constructed so that it can be threaded into the base internally thereof isrotated by operation of the spindle I4 by means of the handle 58, the locking member 361being'in itslocking position as shown in Fig. 1. This is effected by turning the tool in the direction of arrow A in Fig. 1, preferably through about three-revolutions. Then the locking member 36 is re'leas 'ed from the gripping member l2, as illustrated in Fig. 2 and member I4 is then rotated in the opposite direction as indicated by the arrow B in Fig. 2. The rotation of member 14 in this last mentioned direction results in the radial expansion of screw-threaded portion 24 of the outer gripping member so that the latter securely grips the lamp base internally thereof whereby continued operation thereafter of the tool in the same direction is effective to unscrew the lamp base from the socket for removing the lamp base therefrom. V v I v After the lamp base is removed from its socket, spindle 2B of operating member [4 is turned in the opposite direction, say in, the direction of arrow A in Fig. 1 while the gripping member 12' is held against rotation, for example, by holding the lamp base l3 which is mounted on said gripping member; until the radial pressure of the screwthreaded portion 24,on the internal screw-threadedisurface of the" lamp base isreleased. Then theloclring member 36 is returned to its locking position to prevent relative rotation of members l l'and I4 so that removal of the lampbase'B from the tool is facilitated by unscrewing said lamp base from the threaded portion of the tool. In case more than average difllculty is encounteredv in removing the lamp base from, its socket byturning the handle 28 by hand, a wrench or other suitable tool may be applied to member IZQand for this purpose portion I6 of saidmember is provided with a hexagonal or other parttll which may ,be, engaged by a wrench and thereby rotated. The outer end of spindle 28 is preferably recessed ,as indicated at 62 in Fig. 3 to receive parts of the lamp or lamp securing material Bil which might not have been removed from the lamp base preliminary to the insertion of the tool in the lamp base as referred to above.

The tool of the present invention can be used for cleaning electric lamp sockets as well as for removing lamp bases therefrom. In this connection, itylill beunderstood that the tool may be inserted in the socket so asto engage the threaded portion 24 of the tool with the screw-threaded shell of the socket internally thereof. The portion 24 may be expanded, if desired, to provide the required fit between the outer surface of said portion and the inner threaded surface of the socket shell so that rotation of the tool results in scraping and cleaning the said surface of the socket. Thus the tool is particularly well adapted for removing paint, corrosion and other foreign material from the inner surface of the socket shell whereby to clean the same and thereby improve the electrical conducting condition thereof. It will be understood that various changes in the details of construction and in the arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the underlying idea or principles of our invention within the scope of the appended claims. Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

11A tool for removing a lamp base from a socket comprising a cylindrical member having an outer end portion adapted to grip said base internally thereof and provided with a plurality of circumferentially-spaced longitudinal slits de-' fining segmental portions whereby said end portion is radially'expansible and c'ontractable, said member having an internally screw-threaded portion spaced axially of said outer end portion, and an operating member disposed axially of said cylindrical member, said operating member havingr otatingmeans integral therewith and being provided with a threaded portion in rotary engagement with said internally screw-threaded portion of said cylindrical member and with a flared end portion adjacent the inner surfaces of said segmental portions, said last mentioned portion of said operating member being operable to expand said segmental portion s of said cylindrical member into secure gripping relation with said base when said operating member is rotated in a predetermined direction'in' relation to said cylinden and releasable means for releasably preventing relativerotation of said gripping member and said operating member, said releasable mean comprising a locking member movable longitudinally or one of said members, .means engaging said releasable means and said one of said members to prevent rotation of said releasable means on said one of said members, the other of said members having a recess and said locking member being engageable with the other of said members in said recess for preventing turning thereof and being retractable by longitudinal mfivment' out of engagement with said other member; and resilient locking means internally said operating member engageable with said locking' member for holding said locking member in locked or retracted condition. A l ll tool" for'removinga screw threaded lamp basetfrom a threaded socket, comprising a membeihaving' aninternally screw-threaded part, a plurality of .circumferentially disposed. segments carried: by said member at one end thereof, said segments beingradially movable from retracted p'ositionsto expanded positions for gripping the lamp base internally thereof; saidsegments having' inner surface portions which flare outwardly toward the outer ends of the segments, a rod having rotating means integral therewith and having a screw threaded stem which is in screwthreacled engagement with said member internally thereof in engagement with said screwthreaded part, and an inwardly tapering part carried by said rod at one end thereof in juxtaposition to said outwardly flaring urface portions of said segments whereby rotation of said rod in relation to said member in a direction for unscrewing the lamp base from its socket results in axial movement of said part toward the opposite end of said member and in radial outward movement of said segment to clamp the latter radially against the lamp base, so that continued rotation of said rod in said direction causes the lamp base to be unscrewed from its socket, and means for releasably holding said member and said rod against relative rotation comprising a sleeve slidable on said rod, means engaging saidsleeve and rod preventing relative rotation of said sleeve and rod, interengaging means on said sleeve and said member preventing relative rotation of said sleeve and said member, and resilient looking means internally said rod and enga eable with said sleeve for holding said sleeve in locked or retracted condition.

3. In a tool for removing a screw threaded lamp base from a threaded socket, said tool having a gripping member and an operating member in coaxial disposition, said operating member being rotatable within said grippin member; clutch means for engaging and disengaging said members comprising a sleeve slidable on said operating member, means engaging said sleeve and said operating member for preventing relative rotation of said sleeve and operating member, interengaging means on said sleeve and said gripping member preventing relative rotation of said sleeve and said gripping member, and resilient locking means for holding said sleeve in engaged or disengaged condition.

4. In a tool for removing a screw threaded lamp base from a threaded socket, said tool having a gripping member and an operating member in coaxial disposition, said operating member being rotatable Within said gripping member; clutch means for engaging and disengaging said members comprising a sleeve slidable on said operating member, means engaging said sleeve and said operating member for preventing relative rotation of said sleeve and operating member, interengaging means on said sleeve and saidgripping member preventing relative rotation of said sleeve and said grippin member, and resilient locking means internally said operating member and engageable with said sleeve for holding said sleeve is engaged or disengaged condition.

5. In a tool for removing a screw threaded lamp base from a threaded socket, said tool having a gripping member and an operating member in coaxial disposition, said operating member being rotatable within said grippin member; clutch means for engaging and disengaging said members comprising a sleeve slidable on said operating member, means engaging said sleeve and said operatin member for preventing relative rotation of said sleeve and operating member, interengagin means on said sleeve and said gripping member preventing relative rotation of said sleeve and said gripping member, and resilient locking means comprising a spring pressed ball disposed within a lateral groove in said operating member, said sleeve being provided with recesses on its internal surface for receiving said ball whereby said sleeve is retained in engaged or in disengaged position.

JACK SHAPIRO. MARVIN SHAPIRO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 736,991 Matthews Aug. 25, 1903 851,137 Manley Apr. 23, 1907 1,390,917 Lyon Sept. 13, 1921 1,813,567 Delorme July 7, 1931 1,892,904 Robinson et al Jan. 3, 1933 2,320,435 Hood June 1, 1943 2,360,054 Haas Oct. 10, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 311,451 Germany Mar. 22, 1919 

